This is the article that I found and chose to write about from Google Scholar. It is titled The Earth Liberation Front and Environmental Terrorism by Stefan H. Leader and Peter Probst. This article is very obviously biased against the ELF for multiple reasons. First of all, looking at the title alone you can tell that they regard the ELF as a terrorist movement. Second of all, in the article while they are describing what the ELF is, the authors use words such as 'radical' and 'leaderless resistance.' When talking about the history, they relate the origins of the 'leaderless resistance' that the ELF uses to the Ku Klux Klan. All in all throughout the article you can see how the article is trying to sway its reader to look at the ELF in a bad light.
Growing up, some of my best friends were environmentalists. I never really appreciated what they did, always wondering why people were so dedicated to protecting the environment. However, after watching this movie in class, I have an entirely newfound respect for environmentalists and what they do. Honestly, and this may just the young hot headed teen in me speaking out, but after seeing how these protesters used non-violent ways to protest and they were brutally harassed by the police, pepper sprayed and basically tortured, I understand their frustration with the government and their rational for wanting to burn things down. They are not harming human beings. The statistic shocked me that 95% of America's forests are already chopped down. These people are not radicals for wanting to protect the last 5%. Obviously burning down is probably not the correct answer... but I can sympathize with them because they are in a tough position and tried to take the peaceful route, which didn't work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/nyregion/a-federal-case-in-suffolk-eco-terrorism-or-adolescence-in-bloom.html?src=pm
ReplyDeleteA Federal Case in Suffolk: Eco-Terrorism or Adolescence in Bloom?
By AL BAKER
Published: February 18, 2001
The damage done in Suffolk County had two possible explanations—it was either the work of a smart, devoted coalition of eco-terrorists or the work of young vandals that are releasing their adolescent anger. Three high school students and a nineteen-year-old pleaded guilty for the incidents. This confirmed that a little bit of both explanations was true. The United States government calls the youth terrorists because they make up the Suffolk cell of the Earth Liberation Front. The New York Times describes the ELF as “a militant environmental terrorist group whose ‘campaign of violent crime has stretched from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest.’” The NYT clearly has a bias because they view the ELF as a “militant” environmental terrorist group. They portray the ELF as a group of young, rebellious activists that use violence to support an environmental cause. The NYT views the crimes in Suffolk County “less dramatic” when compared with the other violent acts that the ELF has claimed responsibility for. The NYT clearly has a bias because the view the ELF as the larger organization that conducts violent crimes and influences young adolescents to do the same in order to support an environmental cause.
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-09-04/justice/washington.towers.terrorism_1_elf-radio-station-radio-waves?_s=PM:CRIME
ReplyDeleteActivists topple towers, claim dangers of AM radio waves
This article also portrays the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) as a terrorist group. In fact, I found this article under the Terrorism and Justice section of the CNN website. In this instance, ELF members knocked down two radio station towers because according to the article they claimed that "AM radio waves cause adverse health effects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines." The article also makes it seem as though the group primarily uses dangerous activities to get their point across. While I believe the author is trying to be unbiased they do include that the organization ELF has in fact described themselves negatively as "an international underground organization that uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the systematic exploitation and destruction of the planet. Since its inception in North America in 1996, the ELF has inflicted well over $150 million in damages to corporations and governmental agencies that are profiting from the destruction of the Earth."
http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/271-earth-first
ReplyDeleteThis article was published in Earth First! Journal, the predecessor of ELF. The article was pro-Earth First! As it recognized the extreme and radical actions of the ELF group, however capitalized on how this group made EF! Appear as moderate. The article mentions how the movement began as an avenue to make previous groups more and more moderate, which would eventually convince the audience (America) to take action. I think it is interesting that ELF is not a “organization” per se, instead it claims to be a lifestyle. As mentioned in the article, a verb as opposed to a noun. This article also asks for donation to the Earth First! Fund and pulls on the appeal that money will not be used towards extreme illegal activity. The bias is very entertaining in this article as it attempts to persuade that they are making a difference, but not to the extent of ELF’s outrageous activities.
I found an article in Newsweek titled "From Green to Black." This article is definitely biased against the Earth Liberation Front. In the first paragraph of the article, it refers to the E.L.F. as a "clandestine eco-terror group." The article never mentions the controversy over whether or not the E.L.F. is a terrorist organization because they never target humans in their attacks. It automatically allows the reader to associate the E.L.F. members with terrorists, which makes the reader have a negative view of the group right from the beginning. The article also relates the E.L.F. to other terrorist organizations when it says, "Their targets, like [those of] every other terrorist group, are more symbols than they are useful. They'll pick out something that will gain them attention." This also makes the reader associate the group with other terrorist organizations. When I read this quote, I immediately thought about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Those attacks were also symbolic and meant to gain the world's attention. Obviously, the E.L.F.'s attacks are not anywhere near as deadly as the 9/11 attacks because no on is ever injured or killed in the E.L.F. attacks. But still, the attacks do cause terror and make people feel unsafe. While I do not think the E.L.F. should be put on the same level as groups like Al-Qaeda, I still see them as a terrorist organization.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/03/05/from-green-to-black.html
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/ecoterrorism.asp
ReplyDeleteWhen reading over the article on this website, I found it to be both impartial and accurate. This article actually shines light on many of the issues that we saw in the movie in Friday's class. What I found most interesting, however, was the section of the article where the author characterizes the ELF as a group galvanized by environmental protection and a form of spirituality known as deep ecology. The author's observation was interesting, because it goes back to the concept of deep ecology that we were talking about in class earlier in the semester. It is funny to see how this article ties in so directly to our class; everything just seems to go back to square one. The article also went on to mention that one of the main motives of the ELF is to cause substantial economic and property damage, which was a notion apparent in Friday's film. The article also shines light on the ELF's destructive tactics towards car dealerships, through which the group tried to espouse its message concerning harmful vehicle emissions and the like. Overall, this article brought back the important concept of deep ecology that we were talking about earlier in the semester, and also highlighted many of the different ELF property attacks that were discussed in the film.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/03/seattle.fire/index.html?iref=allsearch
ReplyDeleteThis article in general seems to be very accurate and deliberate. The facts are very plainly stated and so I did not find a compelling reason to be suspicious of bias. Though it does refer to the ELF as a terrorist group, it does so only after mentioning that the FBI had officially identified it as such. It dispassionately explained the events and briefly described the indicators leading to the ELF, such as its signature “ELF” mark and a sign that read, “Built Green? Nope, Black!” Nevertheless, the reporter specifically included the fact that the district’s police chief did not explicitly affirm that the sign came from the ELF.
Article on Earth Liberation Front
ReplyDelete"Student Set for Sentencing in Failed Bombings"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/22bombing.html?ref=earthliberationfront
The article I found was published on March 20, 2009 by the The Associated Press. The piece explains the situation Ian Wallace, a graduate student in anthropology, found himself in eight years after he attempted to destroy two buildings at a Michigan university using detonator devices. Wallace was eighteen when he and an acquaintance placed homemade incendiary devices outside of the two targeted buildings. Although the devices did not detonate, Wallace still pleaded guilty to the attempted property damage inspired by the E.L.F.’s previous attacks. Wallace’s attorney is suggesting that rather than being held in prison for the ten qualifying years, he be sentenced to just 70 months because he was “barely more than a child” when he attempted to blow the buildings up. Wallace was inspired by one of the Earth Liberation Front’s methods of attaining environmental justice –sneaking into facilities during the night and leaving bombs with timers to explode and make a point to the public.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/us/04homes.html?ref=earthliberationfront
ReplyDeleteThis article was published in the New York times, and it talks about house fires that were suspected to be started by the elf. They believe this because these house were supposedly built "green", but radical environmentalists viewed the homes as violating rather than complementing the wooded wetlands in which they were built.They spray painted on a sheet that they hung in the woods, "Built Green? Nope Black." The article seems to cover the story in detail, so i couldnt find that much bias. Although i think mostly every story has some sort of bias in it, this one really only tells the facts about the suspected house fires.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343768,00.html
ReplyDeleteThis article was published by Fox News, and describes the ELF as the biggest terrorist threat to America. The language that is used displays the fact that the author firmly believed the ELF to be a terrorist organization. For example, the article states that "so far, no one has been killed," which eludes to the idea that it will ultimately happen in the future. Generally speaking, Fox News is known for inserting their bias into their information, and while reading through this particular article, I could sense that this was the case.